Travel Tuesday – NAFTA Talks continue in Mexico

Travel Tuesday – NAFTA talk in Mexico City while Tariffs loom

Round 7 of NAFTA negotiations took place in Mexico City on Monday, while the White House continued to threaten more tariffs.

Oddly enough, it’s the US Republicans’ that have been the loudest voices to appeal to Trump’s better-business sense to end the tariffs.

Trump’s not biting.

Mexico wants a deal done, they have an election in July. The ‘presumtive’ leader is Andrés Manuel López Obrador or (AMLO for short). He’s not a Trump fan… he’s not a border-wall fan.

United States wants a deal done even SOONER! — Why the rush in the US? — Well the public reason is pretty simple, Mid-term US elections in 2018. Getting to watch US politics from afar, it’s clear the Trump administration may end up with a pretty hostile Congress, mix that in with a unfamiliar Mexico leadership, and things start to unravel.

Tariffs a threat for a quick deal

It’s pretty clear Trump thinks the Tariffs will push Canada and Mexico into moving quicker into agreement. As much as I think Donald is a negotiator, I think he may not fully understand the impact Canada has on the US Economy.

From 2017: This shows that states that have Canada as the largest Import Partner.. Yes, the Chinese import market is growing, but Canada – US Relationship is not zero!

Next.. Exports…

Yup. It’s true… most US states export the MOST to Canada… and the southern states obviously export the most to Mexico.

As I said earlier, leading Republicans (Including Paul Ryan, from Wisconsin) are trying to convince Trump to play-nice with Canada, but I don’t see that happening. I think he wants to “Win”.. whatever that means to him!

Canada needs to show strength

I think Canada has a lot at stake, Agriculture being a big one in NAFTA, but energy too can be impacted.

As I’ve said before, on the domestic front, oil pipelines and international market access across the board will only help our position in negotiations. I’ve also mentioned that quietly Solar technology is being hurt by tariffs, resulting in ongoing lawsuits.

Since we’re handcuffed internally by ‘in-fighting’, it makes it harder for our NAFTA team to sit at the table with a showing of strength, tariffs or not!

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WEEKLY SPECIAL GUEST

Cold nights, warm homes! It’s cold in British Columbia, and not just by BC standards! Winter storm warnings, snow fall warnings, cold weather advisories all trickled throughout parts of the province the last week and more as some parts of the province hit temperatures in the minus 20s and